Sunday, February 28, 2010

This is an explanation of real estate comparable market analysis in the Toronto, Mississauga and GTA

Market Analysis Explanation

This is an explanation and overview of this market analysis.

This Comparative Market Analysis will help to determine the correct sellingprice of your home. Ultimately, the correct selling price is the highestpossible price the market will bear.

This market analysis is divided into three categories:

1. Comparable homes that are currently for sale

2. Comparable homes that were recently sold

3. Comparable homes that failed to sell

Looking at similar homes that are currently offered for sale, we can assessthe alternatives that a serious buyer has from which to choose. We can alsobe sure that we are not under pricing your home.

Looking at similar homes that were sold in the past few months, we can seea clear picture of how the market has valued homes that are comparable toyours. Banks and other lending institutions also analyze these sales todetermine how much they can lend to qualified buyers.

Looking at similar homes that failed to sell, we can avoid pricing at a levelthat would not attract buyers.

This Comparative Market Analysis has been carefully prepared for you,analyzing homes similar to yours. The aim of this market analysis is toachieve the maximum selling price for your home, while being able to sell yourhome within a relatively short period of time.

I am thinking to sell my home in Next couple of months. I live close to Derry/Mclauglin. What would be the best time to sell from now to June 2010 in terms of getting the best price.

Regards,

P.

Hello P.,

Thank you for your real estate inquiry. This is a very good question. Our current marketplace is very fast, properties are selling exceptionally well. Nobody knows how long this will last. With HST coming July 1st and many are predicting increasing interest rates in mid year, these two factors could slow our market.

Thus, the current 'wisdom' is to sell now rather than wait until May or June. If I were selling, I would sell now due to excellent market for sellers.

You may have seen this graph and information on my site, but certainly February/March are usually the best months of the year to sell:

Thursday, February 25, 2010

An agent I know sent me this link to watch a motivating video on youtube.

Watch this only when you have 6 minutes of spare time. If you don't have the time today, make the time to watch it sometime today anyway.

This video really sums up what life is all about and how you can push yourself to limits that you never thought were possible and even surpass them.

This is why I always tell you to set your goals very high. The reason is that you will achieve your goals, eventually, as long as you work hard towards them.

Someone told me this saying or I read it somewhere and it stuck in my mind at an early age. As long as I can remember, I have always thought this way since I was about 20 years old (and I have even told you this phrase before):

"Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it will achieve"

This is a super important concept in your life no matter what you do or attempting to do.

Whatever you think in your mind, whatever your self-talk is, over time you become what you think and believe. I have visualized owning small apartment buildings and investment real estate for many years, someone has to own them, why not me?

If you imagine that you are sitting in a boardroom of your own company and you are running the meeting and everyone else is listening to you and taking your advice and you are running the company, then it will eventually happen, guaranteed. If you imagine that you are in an operating room and you are the chief medical doctor doing micro-surgery on someone's brain while all the other doctors, nurses, staff and students in the gallery watch you perform the surgery because you are the worlds best micro surgeon, it will happen. If you visualize owning a 37 foot powerboat cruiser and sitting on a lake enjoying your time on the boat, it will eventually happen.

If you visualize your goal and work hard towards that goal and save your money that you would have otherwise spent on other items, eventually it will happen. If you visualize sitting down on a beach with warm breezes blowing over your face in January and February of every year when you are 53 years old, it will happen.

If you imagine and create very specific images of your goals in your mind at a young age, and you constantly work towards those goals and strive to reach your images in your mind, no matter what they are, and if you put in the effort and streamline your thinking and your everyday tasks towards that goal, you will eventually achieve your goal. It is inevitable. It is the law of the universe.

Whatever you imagine and conceive in your mind and believe in your mind, it will come true in your mind, and it will also become true in reality. This dream, vision, goal or conceived idea has to become reality because all you do is tell yourself that it will happen over and over and over again and all your do is work towards that goal and dream and it will eventually happen. It has to.

The video below will show you in dramatic fashion that it is your mind that blocks you from achieving your goals. If you let your mind believe you can accomplish your tasks and reach your goals AND you work towards those goals every day of your life, you will achieve them.

Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it will achieve. It is inevitable! :-)

I truly wish you success and happiness in everything you imagine yourself doing and dare dream to do! :-)

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

This is the latest economic news from TD Canada Trust economics, they arepositive on the future, sounds good, enjoy!Mark

February 2010

CANADIAN EXPORTS RISE ON U.S. INVENTORY RESTOCK, DEFICIT WIDENS AS DOMESTICECONOMY STRENGTHENS

* Trade deficit widens to $246 million from $201 mil-lion on the back of a1.7% gain in exports and 1.8% gain in imports

* U.S. demand drives Canadian exports for the third consecutive month onmassive inventory restock

Canadian international trade data for December indicated that exports grewfor the fourth consecutive month by 1.7%, while imports grew by a slightlygreater 1.8%. This caused the trade deficit to widen from $201 million to$246 million. For the third consecutive month, the main driver of exportgrowth has been U.S. demand, in spite of all the talk sur-rounding itssubdued recovery.

Though, this was not surprising. U.S. GDP data for the fourth quarterindicated that the American economy grew by 5.7% on an annualized basis andsuggested a widespread restocking of depleted inventories. This was likelythe main influence for such strong demand for Canadian exports. The tradesurplus specifically with the U.S. widened in December to $3.7 billion from$3.4 billion in November on the back of a 2.9% and 2% gain in exports andimports, respectively. Consistent with this notion is the fact that much ofthe gains in exports to the U.S. were attributed to passenger cars, stocksof which were heavily depleted following the Cash for Clunkers program thatended last summer.

Total exports of passenger cars grew by an impressive 11.7% in December andwere, indeed, the main driver of the headline export figure. In fact,exports in this sub-sector have already recovered fully to their pre-crisislevel. Other big gainers were machinery & equipment exports and energyproduct exports which grew by 3.4% and 1.5%, respectively. On the importside, the gains were broad based, but largely driven by motor vehicle partsand crude oil imports which grew by 11.1% and 17.0%, respectively.

December's figure rounds out the last quarter of 2009 in which the tradedeficit improved slightly from $18.5 billion in the third quarter to $17.6billion at annual rates in the fourth quarter. Thus, net trade will add togrowth when fourth quarter GDP data is released later this month, but willlikely be a drag beyond that. Although the U.S. inventory readjust-ment willcontinue, its pace will likely slow in the coming quarters; in addition,heavy uncertainty remains regarding the state of global demand in the faceof an EU deficit crisis emanating from Portugal, Spain, and Greece. Thusfar, the latter turn of events has been putting downward pressure on theCanadian dollar as a flight-to-safety mentality and questionable commoditydemand has dominated investor sentiment. The dollar is down more than 4%since its recent peak hit in the middle of January and currently sits at93.6 cents, thus improving overall export competitiveness

However, this is likely to be temporary. Talks of a Ger-man bailout havealready calmed investors and once senti-ment returns to looking at economicfundamentals, strug-gling overall demand originating from the EU and theU.S., our largest trading partners, and the strength in Canada's domesticeconomy will likely drive currency investors back into the Canadian dollarand inhibit overall export growth.

In spite of the fact that we lack any robust recovery in exports, which yetsit 27.5% below its peak hit in July of 2008, we continue to expect theoverall economy to grow in excess of 3% on an annualized basis in everyquarter of this year with domestic demand the main contributor to thatgrowth.

This is the latest press release from RE/MAX regarding the state of our market. There is certainly a low number of properties on the market in Mississauga and this will only fuel the market!All the best!MarkLow inventory levels set stage for heated Spring market in most major Canadian centres, says RE/MAX

Active listings down in 81 per cent of markets in January

Mississauga, ON (February 24, 2010) - Lack of inventory will be the greatest challenge facing housing markets across the country this Spring, according to a report released today by RE/MAX.

The RE/MAX Market Trends Report 2010, which examined real estate trends and developments in 16 markets across the country, found that unusually strong activity during one of the traditionally quietest months of the year has led to a sharp decline in active listings in 81 per cent of markets surveyed. The threat of higher interest rates, tighter lending criteria, and in British Columbia and Ontario, the introduction of the new Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) have clearly served to kick-start real estate activity from coast-to-coast, prompting an unprecedented influx of purchasers. As a result, 87.5 per cent of markets posted an increase in sales in January. Average price appreciated in 81 per cent of markets surveyed.

"There have never been so many motivating factors in play at once," says Michael Polzler, Executive Vice President, RE/MAX Ontario-Atlantic Canada. "We're in for a heated Spring market that will, in all probability, spill over into the summer months, as the window of opportunity draws to a close. The supply of homes listed for sale has been drastically reduced, housing values are once again on the upswing, and banks and governments are moving in unison toward stricter lending policies."

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

This is another question that I received about Tax Sale Properties, and of course my answer!

Hi Mark, I have a question, we are interested in Tax Sale Homes for our business could you send me listings for those? Thanks and have a great day Sam

Hi Sam,

We don't see too many Tax Sale Properties on the MLS. Some realtors may do this for a fee, but I don't know of any. Buying a tax sale property is a very involved process, plus you have to submit sealed bids or be at the actual auction, so it takes up much time and effort. I think this is partly why they end up being reasonable purchases.

With that said, almost every single tax property I've looked at has a major deficiency of some kind. For example, it may be landlocked, it may be a very long thin slice of property of not much use, it may be just barren rock or very swampy lowlands, or a slice of land adjacent to major highway or railway that is not of much use, or 50 acres in the middle of nowhere with only a logging road to it (something of nice use, but not too much value) I think you get the idea. I am not trying to be negative, just giving you my experience. With that said, there was a tax sale property of a detached home on Britannia about a year ago, I don't know if it sold or if the owner paid up the taxes, I will try and hunt it down for my information and if I find it, I will email you again.

If you are in Mississauga (or any municipality for that matter), I would go to the tax office at city hall to obtain the next sale of properties to see what it's all about and the process and then you can decide if this is something you want to pursue.

Monday, February 22, 2010

This graph clearly shows that the number of sales to active listings ratio for the West GTA zones, W01 to W28, Etobicoke, Mississauga, Brampton and west, is about 43% or so and indicates that 43% of all listings on the market are selling, much higher than the period back in the spring of 2009

Saturday, February 20, 2010

This graph shows you the number of days on the market before a property sells in the West Zones of the GTA, Etobicoke, Mississauga, Oakville west. It clearly shows that it takes about half the time to sell a property today versus a year ago, a dramatic change in the real estate marketplace indeed!

This graph shows you the number of single family residential sales over the past 12 months in the GTA and Toronto and clearly indicates that April, May and June period were the most active in the past 12 months

Thursday, February 18, 2010

This figure shows you the breakdown of sales in the GTA and Toronto showing you which dwelling types sell more than others. It compares detached, semi detached, townhomes, condos, freehold townhomes, co-ops, links and detached homes. Detached homes continue to make up about 46% of all sales followed by highrise condominium properties making up 26% of all sales

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

The Bank of Canada announced some changes to the mortgage act in Canada

These changes affect the qualification rulesThere are two types of buyers that the bank is attempting to address; buyers purchasing properties more than they can afford and investors flipping propertiesThe Bank of Canada feels there no definitive signs of a housing bubble , so they are slowing a 'NON' bubble. How have they tightened the rules:

Buyers with less than 20% downpayment must show they can afford a 5 year mortgage

Investors must have minimum 20% downpayment

The changes take effect in mid April and some lenders may implement soonerAll the best!Mark

Monday, February 15, 2010

This graph shows the number of active listings over the past year and indicates that although this number increased in January of 2010, it is still down compared to the previous 12 months. Another indicator of our very active marketplace!

Saturday, February 13, 2010

This chart shows the number of sales, new listings, active listings and days on the market and compares these figures for January 2010 to January of 2009. It's a nice snapshot showing that the market is far more active now compared to a year ago, that the number of active and new listings is down and that the average days on the market is down, all indications of a very fast market in the GTA

If you are currently looking to purchase, you know that this is exactly the case!

Friday, February 12, 2010

This graph shows the average prices and number of sales for the City of Toronto and the GTA and clearly shows that prices in the 416 area are significantly higher than the surrounding 905 regions in the GTA. There are more sales in the 905 area compared to Toronto, this makes intuitive sense since the 905 area is far larger than the city of Toronto

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

These two quotes below come from the site listed at the bottom, they were in reference to Tom Vu, the real estate mogul who "suckered" many people into 'coming to his seminars' only to learn techniques that were not very applicable in real life.

In TV commercials, Tom Vu would lure people to come to his seminars by saying to them they will learn the 3 little words that will teach them to become millionaires, how could anyone resist such an offer and many people did go to his seminars. The three little words were, Don't Give Up! Quite true!

Even to this day there are many people that I run across that want to make fast money and easy money.

I love these two lines below, they are perfect and really sum up many people:

How does a real estate guru make money?Answer: By taking it from chumps with illusions of making lots of easy money.

How does a poker player make money?Answer: By taking it from chumps with illusions of making lots of easy money.

...so please, don't have the illusion of earning 'lots of easy money' it's just not there often enough and you will more often than not, lose all your money!

Just like the stock market, when people make money in the stock market they buy low and sell high. When someone sells high, that means that someone has purchased high and will lose.

That sounds a lot like me and my dealings with the stock market, any stock I seem to buy ends up in the tank, two in particular that I have lost over $10,000 NO MORE, I am not buying any more stocks, only real estate and some RSP's in the markets in mutual funds, that's it! LOL

Monday, February 08, 2010

I had another question about mortgage renewal advice and thought I would share the question and my answer.

The question was:

Hi,

I have been always checking your websites on pointers and I learned so much on it.

Now I would like to ask regarding mortgage. I am due for renewal of mortgage (oct) and cant decide what to do so Im seeking your wisdom,

I have 100,000 left from my mortgage. and now being offered by my current bank to take 2.65% for a year. If I keep the same payment, my banker said I can finish it off in 6 to 7 years.

What I used before is paying a biweekly 650.00 but each month I paid a lumpsump of at least 500.

Now on my renewal, is it best to do the same thing again? Or I can save more if upfront, I decrease my mortgage length instead by paying making my biweekly payment of 900?

Please advise.Thanks

Rose

My answer

Hello Rose,

I am a firm believer in paying that mortgage off as soon as you can. We may never see today's' rates again. I would go with the short term variable rate and have your bank lower your amortization upon renewal until the payment is $650 or whatever your payment was before. You can get less than 2.65% on a variable rate. This should reduce your amortization to maybe about 5 years, see the calculator here: http://www.mississauga4sale.com/mortgage-amortization-creator.htm

Then you should be able to pay it off in 5 years or so.

Even if the prime rate increases later this year, which it is supposed to, the 5 year variable has to climb to about 4.75% for you to be even compared to the 2.65% mortgage for 5 years and you will still be ahead of the game.

Reason is, it may take 2 years to reach 4.75%, if ever, and then you have saved a pile in interest in the first 2 years of your mortgage. You should be earning more in 2 years from now and look at it as an investment in yourself.

Also, in 3 years, you can renew that 5 year mortgage and who knows, there may be some good specials out there that you can take advantage of.

Please make sure your payments are accelerated bi weekly or accelerated weekly, which I am guessing they are, but please confirm this with your bank.

I am always learning too in this business and I heard another gem of advice the other day. When your mortgage is coming up for renewal, look for a new bank branch opening. They often will give a discounted rate ONLY at that branch because they want new customers coming into the branch and creating accounts and business. This would be a 'branch special' and maybe a great method of getting an even better rate. My colleague who told me this said that you may be able to get an additional .5% off the best rate, because they want new business. I will look for this next time one of our mortgages comes due, sounds interesting! :-)

You should be better off in the long run going short term, read my experience here:

Friday, February 05, 2010

Homes sales in the GTA and Mississauga were slightly higher than the average number of home sales in the past 5 years. If you are a buyer looking for a property right now, you know that our marketplace is very fast right now and almost everything is selling very quick. Average prices are up considerably when you compare January 2010 to January of 2009, but the period from October 2008 to January 2009 was dismal. In fact January of 2009 was the bottom of the slump in our market, the outlook for real estate was dismal. One year later and the outlook is incredibly different, you won't find many people who are not optimistic on real estate in Mississauga and Toronto for 2010All the best,Mark

Thisresult represented a large increaseover the 2,670 sales in January2009 when the home sales were ina recessionary trough. Last month’ssales were slightly higher than theJanuary average in the five years

preceding 2009.

“The GTA housing market hasrebounded well from the lows insales experienced at the beginningof 2009. Sales climbed backto healthy levels across the GTAbecause the cost of home ownershipremained affordable in the Torontoarea,” said TREB President TomLebour.

“Increasingly confidentconsumers moved to take advantageof affordable home ownership.”

The average home selling price inJanuary 2010 climbed 19 per centto $409,058, compared to 343,632in the same month last year.

“Expect strong annual growth ratesfor existing home sales and averageprice through the first quarter as wecontinue to make comparisons tothe weak market conditions at thebeginning of 2009,” said Jason

Thursday, February 04, 2010

These are the stats for January 2010, the Toronto and Mississauga Real Estate Marketplace began with a very strong start. Prices are up compared to same month in 09 and so are number of sales. We expect 2010 to be a strong year in real estate sales.

All the best!Mark

GTA REALTORS® REPORT JANUARY RESALE HOUSING MARKET FIGURES

TORONTO, February 3, 2010 -- Greater Toronto REALTORS® reported 4,986 transactionsthrough the Multiple Listing Service (MLS®) in January 2010. This result represented a large

increase over the 2,670 sales in January 2009 when the home sales were in a recessionarytrough.

Last month’s sales were slightly higher than the January average in the five yearspreceding 2009.

“The GTA housing market has rebounded well from the lows in sales experienced at thebeginning of 2009. Sales climbed back to healthy levels across the GTA because the cost ofhome ownership remained affordable in the Toronto area,” said TREB President Tom Lebour.

“Increasingly confident consumers moved to take advantage of affordable home ownership.”

The average home selling price in January 2010 climbed 19 per cent to $409,058, compared to343,632 in the same month last year.

“Expect strong annual growth rates for existing home sales and average price through the firstquarter as we continue to make comparisons to the weak market conditions at the beginning of